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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 22, 2016

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) respects your privacy. The following describes our Privacy Policy in relation to the information you submit via metro.net, and how it is used.

Personal Information

We may request personal information when you submit comments on Metro service or when you submit videos in participating in a survey, poll, blog or live chat. You may also be asked to provide information when subscribing to an email newsletter, email alerts (through
Emma email marketing
,
WordPress
) or purchasing Metro goods and services online. This personal information may be in the form of your name, email address, phone number, street address, etc. For example, you may be asked to provide an email address and name if you'd like the Agency to respond to input provided via feedback form or survey (through
Wufoo Forms
and
Poll Daddy
). The personal information you voluntarily provide is used to fulfill a request. Metro may use this information to inform you of service information, promotions or other news of value to you as a transit customer. Metro or its contracted vendors do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to anyone, or disclose personal information except:

When the purpose and manner of the disclosure has been disclosed to you prior to your providing the information; or When disclosure is required by law.

Log Activity for Statistical Analysis

Metro tracks activity and site function on its website in the form of log files on its web servers. These logs are analyzed by third-party statistical analysis software solutions such as
Google Analytics
, Wordpress - providing visitor activity trend data. The data gathered is used to better organize information contained onsite and to improve the user experience for our customers. These files merely logs visitors to the site - usually a standard procedure for hosting companies and a part of hosting services' analytics. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. This information is used to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

This information is not used to identify our visitors on an individual level.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Cookies are small files which can be placed on your computer by web servers when you visit certain sites; cookie placement helps us increase the website’s general effectiveness for visitors. These files may contain information such as ID's and passwords, personal information, or preferences. During your visit, the server can access these files to help personalize pages or allow you to affect e-commerce more easily. Metro does not set cookies from any page in the metro.net domain. Our e-commerce and lobbyist registration pages set cookies with login information only for the convenience of customers who use these areas repeatedly.

Metro uses third party advertisements to support our sites. Some of these advertisers (such as
Google Adsense
,
Google Admob
,
Facebook
, and other third party sites) may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. Cookies are set and read by Google, Facebook and other third party sites. This is generally used for geo-targeting purposes (showing Los Angeles real estate ads to someone in Los Angeles, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing travel ads to someone who frequents travel sites).

Metro also uses Adsense, Admob, Facebook or other third party remarketing, sometimes called retargeting, to market our website(s) across the Internet. Google, Facebook or other third party sites place a cookie on a browser. Google, Facebook or third party sites reads cookies and may present a Metro ad on a 3rd party site. You may opt out of Google’s remarketing by visiting the
Google Ad Settings page
. If you are concerned about 3rd party cookies presenting ads by Google and other ad networks, you may visit a broader opt out page at the
Network Advertising Initiative
. You may opt out of Facebook remarketing by visiting
Facebook Ads preferences
.

If you are concerned about privacy, you may set up your browser not to accept cookies, or you can delete them from your hard drive once you leave the section. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts. By using Metro's website, you consent to the collection and use of information as described above. You can opt out of Google tracking at any time by visiting the
Google Ad Settings page.
You can opt out of Facebook tracking at any time by visiting
Facebook Ads preferences
.

You will be informed of any changes to the policy as it relates to your personal information.

Cross Linking

Metro provides links to other websites to our customers and does not share any personal information with these entities. Metro provides links to external sites for services provided by Metro contractors, such as e-commerce. These sites are subject to Metro's privacy policy. We also provide links to selected sites unconnected to Metro, such as other transit providers and visitor centers; local, state, and federal government agencies; and academic and research organizations. If you follow these links, you are leaving the Metro site and are subject to the privacy policies of those sites. Note that the links we provide to outside sites are offered for your convenience. Metro takes no responsibility for outside sites' content or policies.

About Nextrip

Nextrip is a service designed to help take the guesswork out of bus and rail arrivals and help you to get to your stop at the same time as your bus or train. Nextrip uses satellite technology to find the specific location of a bus or train; then sends the estimated arrival time to a particular stop via cell phone, website or other mobile device.

Nextrip uses Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology and advanced computer modeling to track buses and trains on their routes. Taking into account the actual position of the transit vehicles, their intended stops, and the typical traffic patterns, Nextrip predicts arrivals with a high degree of accuracy. Estimates are updated constantly as vehicles are tracked.

'Go Metro' Mobile App

The application uses your precise current location via GPS (global positioning system) or other network location sources like Wi-Fi and cell towers. In order to use these location services they must be turned on and available to your device. Location data provided by any external services (such as Google Maps or the Metro Trip Planner) is for basic navigational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon in situations where precise location information is needed. Neither Metro, nor its agents, nor any of its content providers guarantees the availability, accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of stock information, location data or any other data displayed by any external services.

Metro does not collect nor store personal information from customers downloading, installing or using our 'Go Metro' mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, or Android. Customers who want to provide feedback via the 'Report A Bug' button in the application have the option to provide contact information ONLY if they'd like a reply. Device model and current operating system is collected for troubleshooting, this response is sent by email.

In the event the application crashes, a ‘crash log file’ is automatically generated and sent to Go Metro’s cloud server. Device model, current system version, time of crash, and crash report (a text file which consists of errors/exceptions logs on what cause the app crashed) is collected for troubleshooting - no personal information is collected or sent to Go Metro cloud servers.

Event tracking is utilized to provide information for the My Metro feature and to support improved future application design. Various buttons, links, and actions are logged and sent to Google Analytics server to determine feature usage, content usage, and app behavior. If a data connection is not available, data is temporarily stored on device until a data connection is established, at which point, data is sent to
Google Analytics
servers - no personal information is collected or sent to
Google Analytics
.

The following is a complete list of all events the app is tracking and sending to
Google Analytics
:

In-App Advertising

Go Metro includes banner advertising powered by
Admob
, a third party mobile advertising service, that uses location information while using the App. Metro does not have access or collect your personal information to present advertising.

In-App Purchases

Metro offers contents for purchase within the Go Metro app. Terms and conditions of the purchase and usage of content will be governed by the App Store (
Apple App Store
and/or
Google Play Store
) associated with your App Store account. Requests for refunds will be processed through the App Store. If you have previously made an In-App purchase and would like to restore or download it, sign-in to your App Store account associated with the purchase to see the option to restore it. Metro does not have access or collect your App Store account information.

Notifications & Beacons

Metro will send messages in the form of mobile notifications or promotional contents though the Go Metro app. The App may use location information to display notifications or promotional contents. Also, messages may be activated by Beacon devices in public space, which communicate location, transit, or event information. To manage notifications for Go Metro, go to the notifications area in the settings for your device and select Go Metro.